LegendSky, the maker of the HDFury has counter-sued Intel and Warner Bros over its anti-piracy antics.

For those who came in late, the HDFury is a small box that downgrades newer versions of HDCP copy protection to the older HDCP 1.4 version. It was sued by Warner Bros. and Digital Content Protection (DCP) which is owned by Intel. The pair claimed that the HDFury was being used to pirate 4K content, as 4K rips began appearing on the Internet shortly after the HDFury became available, and that LegendSky was violating the DMCA with its device.

However LegendSky points out that the Fury merely downgrades the HDCP version which is permitted by the DMCA as long as it isn’t used to connect two separate computer programs. Now, the company has filed several counterclaims against both Warner Bros. and DCP, TorrentFreak reports. It is demanding compensation for damages suffered and accusing DCP of defamation and monopolisation.

LegendSky’s counterclaim said that the Intel and Warner’s complaint was a sham. “They know, or should know, that Plaintiff DCP’s licensees, including Netflix, use HDFury Devices to convert newer to older versions of HDCP so as to enable interoperability between devices.”

LegendSky says that other companies like CBS, Disney, and NBC have purchased HDFury devices, and are using them for legitimate and legal purposes.“Plaintiffs have, either directly or indirectly, made knowing false statements of fact to third parties wherein they have painted Defendant as a criminal enterprise releasing the HDFury Devices with no other intent than to steal and pirate copyrighted materials,” the counterclaim said.

In the consumer entertainment industry’s big push to gradually phase out the 1080p Blu-ray disc format and replace it with the upcoming 2160p Ultra HD Blu-ray format, many have come to expect an initial lineup of titles to slowly trickle in just like the days of its predecessor’s big rollout back in November 2006 with the launch of the PlayStation 3.

Nevertheless, Warner Home Video has solidified itself as one of three major companies, along with 20th Century Fox and Sony, to be first-to-market with new UHD Blu-ray discs in all their 4096x2160p glory. The four initial titles to be released by the company include Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), San Andreas (2015), The Lego Movie (2014) and Pan (2015).

Image Credit: 4K.com

Additionally, all four films will come with HDR (High Dynamic Range) support, allowing for an expanded range of display contrast between the brightest whites and the darkest blacks in any given scene.

Warner has also said that current theatrical titles from the company will also be released in the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray disc format as well as DVD versions, skipping the standard Blu-ray disc format release altogether. This is fine, however, because new UHD Blu-ray discs are backward compatible with existing Blu-ray players, with the exception of only playing in 1080p “Full HD” rather than the new 2160p “Ultra High Definition” format.

More 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray disc titles from Warner will be released throughout 2016, including Man of Steel (2013) and Pacific Rim (2013).

Warner Bros has said "that's all folks" to the super buggy PC version of Batman: Arkham Knight.

The studio has decided to suspend sales of Batman: Arkham Knight and removed its buy option from Steam.

The company has issued a statement saying that it is really sorry about the performance issues with the PC version of Batman.

"We take these issues very seriously and have therefore decided to suspend future game sales of the PC version while we work to address these issues to satisfy our quality standards. We greatly value our customers and know that while there are a significant amount of players who are enjoying the game on PC, we want to do whatever we can to make the experience better for PC players overall.

"Thank you to those players who have already given valuable feedback. We are continuously monitoring all threads posted in the Official Batman: Arkham Knight Community and Steam forums, as well as any issues logged with our Customer Support (http://support.wbgames.com/). If you purchased your copy of the game and are not satisfied with your experience, then we ask for your patience while these issues are resolved. If desired, you can request a refund at https://help.steampowered.com (Steam refund policies can be found here: http://store.steampowered.com/steam_refunds) or the retail location where you purchased the game.

"The Batman: Arkham fans have continually supported the franchise to its current height of success, and we want to thank you for your patience as we work to deliver an updated version of Batman: Arkham Knight on PC so you can all enjoy the final chapter of the Batman: Arkham series as it was meant to be played."

The game's rating on Steam is "Mostly Negative," while the previous Batman: Arkham games are all in the "Positive It is just as well that Steam now offers refunds as they are going to need it with Arkham Knight.

The game had a 30FPS framerate cap, missing textures (ones that do appear on console) and game stuttering. It was basically a pants PC port.

Wii U owners will not be getting the Batman: Arkham Origins DLC content after all. The downloadable story content that explores one of the most key relationships in the Batman canon originally announced for the Wii U has been canceled.

Why it was canceled is actually quite simple. The demand for the DLC content by owners of the Wii U version of Batman: Arkham Origins is simply not strong enough to support its release, according to the powers that be at Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment.

The story campaign was one of the star attractions of the Wii U five-part Season Pass for the Wii U version of the game. Nintendo will be refunding those that purchased the Wii U Season Pass, but no timeline was given as to when this might happen.

The Wii U received a special Armored Edition of Batman: Arkham City when the console was released that included a number of special additions to support the unique hardware of the Wii. Warner followed that up with the release of Batman: Arkham Origins. Neither of the titles has sold that well on the Wii U, while the releases on other platforms have done well. So, the news really comes as little surprise. as software publishers continue to choose not to release titles for the Wii U.

It seems that two companies are going in different directions with the announcement that Warner Bros. Seattle underwent some layoffs, while at the same time Microsoft will open a new development studio in London.

The Warner Bros. studio in Seattle was responsible most recently for Gotham City Imposters and Guardians of Middle-Earth. Warner is spinning it as a staff reduction due to shifting business imperative, which made the decision necessary. Sources tell us that 60 employees were affected by the decision, and this is the second round of layoffs to hit the Seattle studio. The studio is currently working on Lord of the Rings: Guardians of Middle Earth.

Microsoft will strengthen its studio lineup in the UK with the announcement that they will be opening a new development studio in London. The new London studio will join other Microsoft studios in the UK such as Rare and Lionhead.

According to reports, the new Microsoft London studio will be focused on free-to-play titles and the micro transactions areas of the Xbox platform. The official Microsoft comment is that the new studio will be developing successful new programs and services for current and future Xbox customers.

Opening a new studio in the UK will likely be a good one for Microsoft, as the company will have a large and talented pool of resources from which to hire due to all of the studios in the UK that have been closed over the past year or so.

Warner has confirmed that F.E.A.R. 3 is the victim of another delay that will see the title now pushed back to June release. The title was originally slated for an autumn 2010 release and then it was bumped to March of 2011 and once again to May. It seems that the title just can’t make its way to release.

F.E.A.R. 3 is a highly expected sequel that many players have wanted to see for a long time. While we have heard whispers of development troubles and continued revisions and tweaks to the game to improve it, no one wants to go on record to say that this is actually the case.

So, keep your fingers crossed and we will see if F.E.A.R. 3 really does get released on June 21st for North America and June 24th in Europe. Right now, we give the chances of this happening at 50/50 at best. We will see how it turns out, but evidently Warner is committed to the title, so it will get released at some point.